This invention relates to a class of articles or devices made from wire to provide a frame which is not a stand, the frame holding the mouth of a bag open while the bag is suspended within the frame without prongs, hooks or clamps, and without supporting the body of the bag.
Wire racks have attained a high degree of commercial acceptance because of the relative ease with which they may be fabricated, the low cost of wire stock and the short time required to fabricate them. Such racks are particularly popular for relatively small and light objects which must be displayed prominently; and to save storage space, such racks are collapsible as shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,415. Such racks are not generally regarded favorably for heavy duty applications, referred to as such because in such applications, these racks are subjected to rough treatment if not outright abuse. Treated roughly, the welded joints of the racks, typically resistance welded, are prone to failure. Having discovered this problem with wire racks made with resistance welds, the problem was to construct a functional and economical rack without using welds.
The device of this invention is particularly directed to the use of a plastic bag with integral handle loops, for temporarily storing material, particularly trash, garbage and the like such as is generated in a typical household. Such plastic bags are now conventionally used as grocery bags in which foodstuffs are packed, or shopping bags in which various articles are loaded so that the bags may then be conveniently hand-carried in one hand. Such a bag is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,170 which also discloses an apparatus for loading such a bag. A wire rack which achieves the same purpose more simply, elegantly and economically is disclosed in my copending patent application Ser. No. 476,070 filed Mar. 17, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,867.
The outstanding durability of such present-day plastic bags dictates that they be re-used, and they are, for a host of various applications in which less than about thirty pounds (30 lb) of material are to be hand-carried. One of the uses for such bags is for garbage generated in the kitchen of the home. Of course, it is not necessary that only at-least-once-used plastic bags be used as garbage bags. Most people, even those who are not affluent, are routinely prompted to purchase a package of new plastic bags solely for their use as garbage bags because it is more convenient than saving (by folding and storing), then re-using used bags. The problem is to store the package conveniently.
A logical, convenient and out-of-sight location for temporarily storing garbage is under a kitchen counter, and an ideal way to use a garbage bag is to have it held open in an upright, material-receiving attitude, adjacent an inner surface of a cabinet's door. When such a door is hingedly connected to a support strut of the cabinet, so that the door opens outwards to provide access to the storage space under the counter, it is desirable that one be able to open and close the door with the bag mounted as described, without the mounted bag and wire rack interfering with the normal action of he door.
To serve this function, it is immediately evident that any wire frame in which the bag is to be suspended should have angled sides in the horizontal plane, to provide the necessary clearance. The overall shape of the wire rack for mounting a garbage bag on the inside of a cabinet door's surface is therefore a flat-bottomed V, as described in greater detail hereafter.
In the foregoing context, and the logically dictated limitations as to angulation of the linear sides so as to provide suitable clearance for a rack-suspended garbage bag, a prior art rack required that mounting ears be welded to the vertical side supports which are integral with the angled, linear sides. The mounting ears are used to mount the rack to the inside surface of the cabinet door.
I discovered that, because of the difficulty of positioning the ears before they are welded to the wire, and the problems with respect to breakage of the welds, welding the ears was best avoided. When welded, the mounting ears were seldom positioned so that their rear mounting surfaces were coplanar. Therefore they would not lie flush against, that is, coextensively upon, the door's surface. Moreover, in ordinary use, the ears broke off prematurely with predictable customer dissatisfaction.
The rack of this invention avoids the problem of welding the mounting tabs on the rack, and does so by simplifying the construction of a device which, superficially, already appears to be of utmost simplicity.